Oregon Confirms Data of 1.6M Residents Exposed in Breach

The Oregon Department of Human Services says that a data breach may have exposed the personal information of the 1.6 million residents the department serves.

The department said on Thursday it isn’t sure exactly how many people had their information exposed after nearly 2 million employee emails were made vulnerable to unauthorized persons. Those emails could have contained sensitive client information, including full names and Social Security numbers.

The breach occurred in January after nine employees opened a phishing link that compromised their email boxes.

DHS says it hired an outside investigator to uncover how many records were impacted and how the information was used. Individuals whose information was exposed will be notified.

DHS manages a number of welfare agencies in the state.